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PRJ-03

Crude Oil Heat Exchanger Fouling Case Study

Python · TEMA · Techno-Economic Analysis

TECHNO-ECONOMIC · University Park, PA

28%
recoverable duty lost
$2.7M/yr
excess fuel cost
$800K
mitigation CapEx
  • A crude preheat train recovers heat from hot downstream streams to warm incoming crude before the furnace, cutting how much fuel the furnace has to burn to hit feed temperature.
  • Traditional exchanger design leans on fixed TEMA fouling factors, but real fouling is dynamic: deposits build over a run length, thinning the heat-transfer coefficient and forcing the furnace to make up the shortfall as it degrades.
  • Modeled how fouling cuts the overall heat-transfer coefficient from 485 to 350 W/m²K across a 15-exchanger crude preheat train, quantifying a 28% loss of recoverable duty, roughly 20 MW.
  • Translated that loss into $2.7M/yr of excess furnace fuel and 40,000 tonne/yr of avoidable CO2.
  • Modeled CapEx/ROI for an $800K mitigation program that cuts roughly 15,000 tonne/yr of that CO2.
CRUDE FEED25 °CPREHEAT TRAIN15 exchangersU: 485 → 350 W/m²KFURNACEmakes up the shortfallCDUdistillation
28%
recoverable duty lost (~20 MW)
$2.7M/yr
excess furnace fuel
40,000 t/yr
avoidable CO₂
$800K → −15,000 t/yr
mitigation CapEx → CO₂ cut
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